Is it allowed to have different alt on same image on different pages?

[BeytzNet]

Hi,

I have images that match several different keywords and I wondered if I can give them different alts based on the page that they are displayed or will Google be angry with me?

Thanks

[CommercePundit]

I have similar question with Image publishing guidelines.

Right now, I have very tricky requirement from client for same image on different pages via different paths and different ALT tags. I was searching solution on Google and come to know about this great discussion. So, I have decided to jump on it.

I have one image on with following name.

lamp.jpg

Client want that, I will use lamp.jpg to following pages via different file name. Again, Image will be same.

xyz.com/lamp.html contain xyz.com/images/lamp.jpg

xyz.com/table-lamp.html contain xyz.com/images/table-lamp.jpg

xyz.com/floor-lamp.html contain xyz.com/images/floor-lamp.jpg

So, Is it really helpful in terms of SEO?

[purch]

There are some basic best practices when using Alt attributes (like not keyword stuffing, etc.) but as long as you are not violating any of those I see no reason you couldn't.

For example, tons of blogs use stock images (and many recycle old images they've already paid for). I may have one article about "Starting Your Own Business" and use a picture of a woman at a desk. I would add the alt text "woman starting her own business". Later I might write an article about "Impressing Your Boss" and reuse that same image with different alt text (ex. "woman impressing her boss at work").

Those are cheesy examples, but to answer your question, I don't see any reason you couldn't use multiple alt text on the same image. After all, "a picture is worth a thousand words" and not even Google can deny that.